FBI website to prevent 'extremism' targets US Muslims

Muslim organisations and civil rights groups have criticised a new FBI interactive website created to prevent violence in schools, saying its focus on Islam is tantamount to racial and religious profiling.   "Don't Be a Puppet" is an interactive video game-like website designed for use by teachers and students.  The site consists of a series of games and tips to teach the user how to identify someone prone to recruitment for violent attacks. 

With each correct answer, a pair of scissors cuts a string off a puppet until the game is successfully completed and the puppet has no more strings. 

The website's nearly exclusive focus on Islam "adds to an environment of suspicion rather than fostering one of learning and curiosity," according to Corey Saylor, a spokesperson for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). 

One of the website's scenarios tells users that they should be suspicious when an individual with an Arabic-sounding or Islamic name mentions going to the Middle East on a "mission", suggesting that the word indicates an intention to engage in violence. 

The website was supposed to launch on Monday, but has been put on hold following objections by religious and civil rights organisations. 

According to the FBI, the website was "designed to provide awareness about the dangers of violent extremist predators on the internet, with input from students, educators and community leaders". 

It is part of the FBI's Countering Violent Extremism (CVI) programme, which involves the participation of local communities. 

Critics of the new interactive website say it will stigmatise Muslim and Arab students who are already vulnerable to bullying and xenophobia.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council was among the groups that previewed the website. 

A new report published by CAIR found that Muslim students in public schools and non-Muslim private schools are bullied twice as much as the national average.

Of those polled, 52 percent had been verbally harassed about their religion by classmates or teachers, while 29 percent of girls who wear the hijab had been exposed to "offensive touching", or had their headscarf pulled, the report found. 

Other indicators that students are vulnerable to being recruited for violence, according to the game, include aloof behaviour or having problems at home.

In September, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was handcuffed and arrested at his school in Irving, Texas, after showing a home-made clock to his teacher, who suspected it was a bomb. 

Rights groups accused the school and police of Islamophobic discrimination, arguing that the teen would not have been arrested if he were not Muslim.

Since the al-Qaeda attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, US intelligence services and security forces have placed a heavy focus on Islam and Muslims, often drawing the ire of rights groups for intrusive measures. 

Caption : Muslims and others protested across the country after the arrest of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed in September [AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter]

Report : AlJazeera